An Overview of Behind-the-Meter Solar-Plus-Storage Program Design: With Considerations for India

This report has been prepared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for discussion purposes with a broad range of stakeholders to find ways to regulate and facilitate DPV-plus-storage systems in India.

This report offers an overarching framework for Indian policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholders to consider as they begin to contemplate the desired role of DPV-plus-storage in the Indian power system, as well as the potential suite of policies, programs, and regulations that might enable its deployment. The approaching program design for DPV-plus-storage systems include: 

  1. Develop and Prioritize Regulatory Objectives
  2. Design Compensation Mechanism 
  3. Design Metering and Technical Configuration Requirements 
  4. Design Interconnection Process 
  5. Consider Local Permitting Issues

In addition, key considerations for Indian stakeholder include: 

High-level Considerations 

  • Well-timed regulatory decisions can enable India DISCOMS to seize the opportunities presented by customer deployment of advanced battery technologies. 
  • Determine the desired role of DPV-plus-storage is an important first step.
  • Customizing rules and requirements based on the characteristics of the DPV-plus-storage system is a key strategy for SERCs to promote fairness.

DPV-plus-Storage Compensation Considerations 

  • Current state net energy metering (NEM) policies do not incentivize storage deployment.
  • Tariff design is an important tool to align the interests of DPV-plus-storage customers with the broader power system in India.
  • Indian regulators can enable business model innovation for DPV-plus-storage systems.

Technical Regulation and Safety Considerations 

  • Metering and technical configuration requirements for DPV may need to be revisited to incorporate more grid-interactive applications of DPV-plus-storage.
  • Existing DPV regulations in India can be used as a foundation for designing DPV-plus-storage interconnection rules. 
  • Both central and state governments in India can play an essential role in developing and facilitating familiarity with new safety codes and inspection procedures for behind-the-meter storage. 

Read the report, here

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